


in the aftermath

by himemiyaa



Series: taz: balance [13]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 00:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/himemiyaa/pseuds/himemiyaa
Summary: anon requested twin bonding time, and i am more than happy to oblige! taako and lup talk post-story-and-song.





	in the aftermath

“Get the fuck out, Barry!”

Taako’s first purchase after the Day of Story and Song was a needlessly large house in Neverwinter. It has two kitchens, three full baths, and five bedrooms. 

One belongs to Taako himself, the master suite, decorated with hanging velvet and fine crystals and dark wood, where he spends his nights fitfully failing to sleep more often than not. There’s some reprieve when Kravitz is free enough to stay the night, but that isn’t assured -- and even despite Kravitz’s heartfelt declaration of love, Taako isn’t entirely ready for him to _move in._ That’s too much, too fast, too real. They were lovely words, but words have led Taako astray plenty of times before. (Thankfully, Kravitz understands. He doesn’t push.)

Another, of course, belongs to Angus McDonald. With the destruction of the moonbase, he has nowhere else to go. He isn’t there all the time -- he has too many cases to solve, even in the aftermath of the apocalypse, and spends much of his time roaming. He calls Taako on his stone every day, and Taako pretends not to care, but the room stays open for him always, and if there’s a new novel for him to read every time he comes back, so be it.

Thirdly, there’s a room for Magnus to stay in. He’s insisting on building his own cabin, insisting on doing it singlehandedly. He needs somewhere to stay in the meantime. Taako pretended for the first few days that the first floor bedroom with the artisan wood furniture and red flannel bedding was just a guest room, meant for anyone, fuck off, Magnus, but he wasn’t fooling anyone, and slowly he relented. The room is Magnus’s, at least until his stupid cabin is built. After that, Taako says, he’s redecorating, but every time he mentions it his ears twitch.

One room is empty. The official excuse is that Taako just wanted the extra space, wanted the status symbol of it. He and Lup grew up so poor and in such cramped quarters, went from caravans to dormitories at the Institute to tiny rooms on the Starblaster. He’s never had room to breathe before. If he decorates the room in blues and silvers, it’s just because he likes the way they look together. If he doesn’t want people to poke around in there, it’s because he’s private. It’s not emblematic of anything. It’s just an empty room.

The fifth room contains a king-sized bed, a fireplace, and a recently-occupied tank, filled until a few days ago with a brackish fluid and an unconscious elven body. It’s this door that Taako stands in front of now, his fist resting against the wood it just beat against. It’s late, though not outrageously so. “You heard him,” Taako hears from inside, followed by a chuckle, and Barry opens the door with a tired smile. He steps out wordlessly, patting Taako on the shoulder as he walks past. Taako walks in and throws himself onto the bed next to his sister, tossing a cane to the side and pressing his face into the furry comforter he knew she’d like. Lup, newly back in a body, reaches over to run her hand over his braid. “Your roots are getting long,” she says absently.

“It’s a new look I’m starting,” he mumbles. Lup chuckles and slips the ribbon off of the end of his hair, starting to work her fingers through the strands, loosening and pulling so that it lays wavy across his back. “You’ll be seeing it all over the place soon.”

“I buy it.” She removes her hand and settles into her pillows with a content sigh. “You remember that cycle where you got half the plane to wear those dumb hats?”

“The hats aren’t dumb, Lup,” he snorts. Taako rolls with some effort onto his back and rubs his fingers over the comforter. “Those are gonna be big here, too.”

“Sure. My mistake.” She reaches over and wraps his hand in hers. He shifts so they’re palm to palm, their fingers entwined. There’s silence for a long few moments. They’re still reacclimating to the other’s presence. He’d thought they’d just pick up where they left off, but it isn’t that simple. Contact is still hard for Lup. She hasn’t felt physical sensation in twelve years, and overstimulation is far too easy. Even breathing is difficult for her, the rising and falling of her chest alien and bizarre. For Taako’s part, he spent twelve years lonely. His time with Sazed was unhealthy, and even after joining Magnus and Merle, he had walls up. Things are different, irretrievably different.

So are they. It doesn’t make much difference, as elves, but a decade of difference is on their faces: Lup’s body is, effectively, ten years younger than his. And that, of course, is without taking into account the other differences. They were never identical, only nearly, but after Wonderland, that’s even more obvious. Lup’s ears are sharper, her freckles more striking, her eyes more fuschia. Taako’s lips are paler, his lashes shorter, the gap in his teeth more prominent. It’s hard for them to look at each other. He limps now, too, again after the violence he suffered in Wonderland. It’s hard for her to see him like this, not as spry and dextrous as he used to be.

The Day of Story and Song was the end of the world and the beginning of it, too. The aftermath is difficult to navigate. It’s a transitional period no one was ready for. Lup strokes her thumb over the back of Taako’s hand. She doesn’t say how much she missed him. He knows.

“What are you gonna do next?” she asks.

“Dunno,” he says. They stare at the ceiling. “I figured I’d go back to Sizzle it Up eventually, but that’s not gonna happen now.”

“Why not?”

“The brand’s too big for that now,” he half-lies. Lup turns her head to look at him, wincing slightly as her undercut brushes against the pillow. It’s fresh and too tender. He doesn’t look back. “You think Taako’s gonna contain himself to a stagecoach after all that? Nah. I killed the Hunger, I’m bigger and better than that.”

Lup snorts and looks away, cringing again as she does. Taako shifts to look at her now that her eyes aren’t on him. He studies the slope of her nose, the way the hairs of her thick, dark eyebrows disperse. It isn’t fair, he thinks, that she still gets to look like that. He tries not to resent it and only mostly succeeds. “What about you?” he asks. “I know you got Bird Mama to deal with, but what else?”

“I dunno. I didn’t expect to get out of the umbrella.”

Taako laughs dryly. “Some pair we are, huh.”

“Couple of aimless chucklefucks.” She rolls onto her side to face him, lifting her head as she does so her hair doesn’t graze the pillow. She meets his eyes for just a moment so he knows she’s serious. Neither of them are fond of eye contact, so he knows it’s important. “You’re still pretty,” she says quietly. “You know you’re still pretty, right?”

“You’re a sap,” he says with no venom behind it, which means he appreciates it, even if it hurts to hear. He rolls onto his side. They’re two halves of a whole, corrupted mirror images. Lup reaches out to rub her thumb along his cheek. He nuzzles into it, then moves closer to her. She mimics the action, pulls him in tight, holds his face against her shoulder. “Tell me if it’s too much,” he says. “I know--”

“It’s fine,” she reassures him. “I’ll let you know.”

She feels him start to cry, warm and wet through her sweatshirt, and she lets herself cry, too. “If you get snot in my hair I’m gonna go get Magnus’s fucking sword,” he mutters.

“Aw, babe, I _just_ got this body.”

“I’ll just take a hand, you’ll live.”

“I guess that’s fair. Granted, how many melee attacks have you made, ever? You’d probably miss.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Nah.” She tightens her grip on him. “You’re too comfy to let you move.”

“You suck.”

“Yep, I sure do.”

Taako wriggles slightly, just enough to free his hand. A softly glowing blue mage hand appears and floats over to the closet to pull down a quilt. “You want under this?” he asks as he begins to drape it over himself. Lup shakes her head.

“I’m good,” she says. “Tuck yourself in, tiny baby.”

“Fuck you. You got an inch on me.”

“Two inches,” she reminds him.

“One and a half at most,” he grumbles.

Barry slips into the room hours later to check on them, and predictably, they’ve fallen asleep. Taako has kicked the blanket halfway off to tangle their legs together and Lup rests her head on his chest. They’re breathing in sync, their hands still holding, both snoring lightly. He turns off the light that they left on and leaves them to it. They’ve earned this reunion, this time alone.

In his sleep, with his other hand, Taako curls his fingers into Lup’s sweatshirt.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! this is crossposted from [my tumblr, @softshelltaakos,](https://softshelltaakos.tumblr.com/post/174712462405/pleaswrite-some-twin-bonding-time) where i take fic requests and love to talk taz. if you enjoyed, please consider leaving a comment! they really fuel my writing. thanks!


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